Forever Yours
by KazeNoSakura
Summary: Karin has always lived a carefree life until her mother was killed. Now out for revenge, she'll stop at nothing until her mother's murderer dies, even if it means killing a man that isn't human. But then again, who said she wasn't the same. #5
1. Character Bios & Glossary

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach, Black Blood Brothers, Vampire Knight or Hellsing

**A/N:** It's been a while, but I think it's about time I brought this story back to life, don't you think? As I've said in the past, it will be different from its predecessor in spite of being the same story. I just hope you will enjoy every bit of it as you have done in the past.

And again, this story will have a various mix of ideas from Black Blood Brothers, Vampire Knight, Hellsing and a few of my messed up theories. If you have not seen any of these anime, do not worry as information about them are not a prerequisite when reading my fic. Instead, I will be giving my own definitions below; which have been slightly modified to fit its new storyline.

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**Important Characters:**

Reficul: A devil amongst all demons and the first Black Blood to have ever walked on this earth. No one knows how he came to exist, but rumour has it that he is the embodiment of all that is evil.

**The Seven Sinful Demons:**

Luca: A strong headed Black Blood. Due to being the leader of the Seven Sinful Demons, he hates it when his brethren talk back to him. Nevertheless, he does secretly care for them. He represents the deadly sin, pride, and has the power to control light and dark.

Magnus: A conniving Black Blood. When given a task, he goes through any lengths to complete it as long as he gets to keep what he finds. He signifies the deadly sin, greed, and has the ability to control fire.

Asami: An alluring Black Blood. Like a tarantula, she lures in her victims with empty promises before she goes in for the kill. She symbolizes the deadly sin, lust, and has the power to control water.

Leonora: A playful Black Blood. When she doesn't get what she wants, she can get real nasty. She embodies the deadly sin, envy, and has the ability to control earth.

Beowulf: A power hungry Black Blood. Despite his immense strength and size, he is constantly looking for a way to become even stronger. He characterizes the deadly sin, gluttony, and has the power to control wind.

Amun: A bloodthirsty Black Blood. He lives for war and is always looking for a fight. He corresponds to the deadly sin, wrath, and has the ability to control thunder.

Bellum: A highly intellectual Black Blood. Although he has great concern for his brethren, his apathetic demeanour tends to fool all those around him. He represents the deadly sin, sloth, and has the power to control ice.

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**Glossary:**

Black Blood: Vampires. They possess a special ability that can be manifested into a weapon of their choice.

Red Blood: Humans.

Newborn: Newly born vampires.

Old Blood: Vampires who have lived for more than three hundred years. Their abilities are far greater than any regular vampire.

Fake Blood: Humans who have become vampires by the means of technology in the pursuit of their greedy desire to obtain power. Although stronger than a human, they cannot stand up to an Old Blood.

Deimos: Shadow-like creatures who are born from humans' sins. To humans, they are like wild animals, but to vampires, they are poisonous. Although easy to defeat when alone, they are fierce when grouped together.

Karakura: A country under the protection of the Bloody Rose.

Bloody Rose: An association dedicated to hunting all those that threaten the citizens of Karakura. Although small in size, they are incredibly strong for humans. Their weapons consist of using holy water and blessed silver.

Quincy:A special unit within the Bloody Rose. Its members use special arrows made specifically for the deimos but can also be used to render vampires weak.

Seireitei: The sacred territory of all Black Bloods who live under the control of the council of Old Bloods. It is divided into thirteen sections where each of them reigns in a specialized skill and has a leader and a general.

Gotei Thirteen: A council made up of the thirteen Old Blood leaders of Seireitei. Their law is absolute and all decisions and/or orders must go through them before being executed. If it is not obeyed, the Black Blood and/or Old Blood responsible will be punished.

Hueco Mundo: A vast region where Fake Bloods and deimos roam free until given the order to attack civilians by their leader, Aizen Sosuke.

Espada: Aizen's special unit made up of ten Old Bloods.

The Seven Sinful Demons: Reficul's Old Blood generals. They were once human until he turned them into vampires, using his demonic powers to instil their strongest sin as their power.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I finally got to post something for this story. Yay! Sorry about the lateness guys and thanks for the favourites and alerts. It's a little different from my usually style (I wrote in the present tense instead of the past tense), so I hope you like it.

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**Friend or Foe?**

Except for the rain, not a sound can be heard.

_Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. _

Serenity.

Tranquility.

Placidity.

And then, _footsteps_.

Filled with distress, they run as fast as their legs can take them, running away from a creature that is neither man nor animal. It's hopeless, but they're left with no other choice. It's either run or die.

Fatigue quickly catches up to them, but they can't afford to stop. Instead, they hope for a miracle and pray to a god they don't believe in. To their dismay, their prayers go unanswered and they fall to the ground, scrapping their skin against the asphalt, attracting more of those monsters.

Battered and bruised, the older sibling concentrates more on getting her little sister to safety because she means the world to her. Without her bright smiles and motherly charm, the world as she knows it is a living hell. But no matter what she does, the little one doesn't move because she's so scared that all she manages to do is fixate her gaze upon their blood as it mingles with the dirt and the rain.

By the time she snaps out of it, it's already too late. Three shadowed figures can be seen not too far from where they stand. With death right around the corner, it's useless to do anything now. And so they give in, closing their eyes as they accept their fate, waiting for the creatures to devour them like the piece of meat they are perceived to be.

Blood splatters everywhere as sharp claws penetrate their flesh. Their bodies lay limp on the ground, painting the pavement before it's washed away by the heavy rainfall.

"Everything will be alright," a kind voice reassures them.

To this the sisters snap their eyes open and see two new shadowed individuals fighting off what is left of the creatures. One dons metal claws, while the other, throwing knives.

"W-who are you people?" the elder one asks in a trembling voice. Although she knows they're here to save them, she can't trust them just yet. For all she knows, their saviours might turn out to be far worst then those creatures.

"Don't worry about who we are, sweetie," the same voice replies. "Just know that we're only here to help."

More knives are thrown before the other decides to speak. "Yuzu, get them out of here," she orders. "I'll take care of the leftovers."

"But Karin-chan, they're Fakes Bloods. Even if they were once human, they have been experimented on and are thus dangerous. I can't let you handle them alone." Yuzu knows how careless her sister can be, especially when she's left alone in a fight. It's only out of love that she worries. "It'd be better if I stayed with you. The thought of you getting hurt… I don't think I'd be able to handle that again."

Karin shakes her head. "Right now, your first priority is to get them out of here." She knows how much her sister hates to fight, so she doesn't make her fight anymore than necessary.

"And you?"

"I'll keep them busy. It's the only way to assure your safety as well as theirs."

"But—"

"No buts, Yuzu," Karin quickly interrupts. "You know how I get whenever I fight them. With you here, I can't fight with all my might."

"Alright," she answers after what seems like an eternity. "Just don't get carried away."

"I will," she grins, showing her sharp fangs. "And be vigilant. Deimos are bound to show up when their masters die."

Yuzu nods and quickly leads the frightened children to their headquarters. It's the only sanctuary that'll keep them safe until the threat is gone.

"Now let's get this party started."

She cracks her knuckles and patiently waits for the rest of them to show up. One of them doesn't make her wait and swiftly lunges at her. Being quick on her feet, Karin sidesteps away and throws a few knives behind her attacker. A low thump is heard seconds later followed by the sound of exploding flesh.

"Shiki!" the she-devil yells. "You bitch! You're going to pay for laying your filthy hands on my lover!"

The Fake Blood lunges at her again, this time fuelled with rage. But as much as her strength had increased, her anger restricts her from thinking clearly; and just as quick as the battle had started, the woman finds herself pinned to the wall by daggers.

"I'm looking for an Old Blood with brown hair and black squared glasses. Where can I find him?" Karin demands. "Depending on your answer, I might give you a painless death."

"Bite me," she retorts.

Unsatisfied by her answer, Karin throws a knife at her hand and the beast growls in pain. "That was just a practice shot. Now tell me what you know or suffer the consequences."

"I'd rather die by your hands, _mongrel_, then die by his. No matter what you come up with, nothing can compare to what he does to traitors."

"Have it your way," she replies without a care and tosses some more daggers. "I guess you won't mind if you lose a hand then."

Karin grabs the dagger embedded in her hand and digs it deeper until the sword literally disappears into her victim's flesh. She then snaps her fingers and watches as the woman's hand begins to boil from the inside-out. Seconds later, the hand explodes right to the joint and the woman shrieks as a river of blood drips to the ground.

"You fucking bitch!" she venomously spits. "I'm going to kill you!" She struggles to get out of her hold, but the knives have dug too deep into her tissue. Whether she likes it or not, she's pinned like a photo on a wall.

"Strong words for a mere servant like yourself." She smiles an almost sadistic smile and licks her lips. "Now unless you want to lose your arm next, I suggest you start talking."

"Go to hell, half-breed!"

Karin frowns at her answer but decides that her victim has had enough. Even if she appears to be a sadist, Karin isn't that type of person. She only acts that way to scare her victim into giving her the information needs. After that, she spares them the pain and immediately kills them.

"Have fun in hell."

Just as she snaps her fingers, instantly killing her victim, a deimos appears out of nowhere and scratches her from behind.

"Damn it," she curses and jumps away, throwing a dagger in the process. It strikes the deimos head on and it disappears.

When one appears, Karin knows that dozens more are bound to show up. So unless she wants to die, she must make her escape before it's too late. To her dismay, however, she doesn't and is suddenly surrounded by an abnormally large group of deimos. She knows that at this point, she can't avoid fighting and thus materializes more knives.

One by one, they vanish as her weapons make contact. But their numbers are so great that no matter how many she kills more take their place.

It's hopeless. She's tired, breathless and to make matters worse, the wound on her back is killing her. Her only hope now is for her brother to show up and mercilessly kill these demons. But she knows that that's not possible because her brother is on a mission of his own. It might take hours before he comes back.

She sighs and prepares to fight them again. Although she's at the point of collapsing, she won't give in to her demise. She'd rather go down fighting.

Before long, she's brought their numbers down to a little over a dozen. But after such a ruthless battle, she's completely drained. Even if she's done her best, she supposes that her best just isn't enough. She has no more hope and finally accepts death; only death doesn't want her.

Without warning, the temperature suddenly drops and her opponents are in-cased in thick spikes of ice. Confused, she looks left and right, trying to find the source of this odd phenomenon, and finds a white-haired boy about her age looking her way. It's weird but she feels as if she's already met him in the past.

"Thanks for getting me out of there. I thought I was going to die."

The boy ignores her thanks and says, "You shouldn't act so friendly with someone who's about to kill you." In an instant, he disappears from her sight and reappears behind her, reaching for an abnormally long sword perched on his back. "This'll be quick."

Before he can even unsheathe his blade, the boy senses danger and grabs Karin bridal-style, jumping out of harm's way. She unintentionally blushes from the proximity and struggles to leave his grasp only this merely prompts him to hold tighter.

"Release my sister!" a man yells from behind them and prepares his weapons for a one-on-one fight. "Unless you want to die, Old Blood."

As soon as his feet touch the ground, he complies with his wishes and unceremoniously drops the girl on the ground. "Are you sure you're looking for a fight? You can't possibly believe that you have a chance against me."

"Not alone, I don't. But I have something that will." He knows he probably blew his secret weapon by telling his enemy about the gadget the Bloody Rose manufactured, but he doesn't care. Whether he tells him or not, it takes perfect timing to use it. Without that, the item would be useless anyway.

He thinks up a quick strategy and in one swift motion throws a few daggers before charging full speed at his opponent. The boy effortlessly dodges his blades and quickly parries his opponent's blows. It's hard for him to understand how a mere Black Blood can have this much strength but then reminds himself of their bloodline. Their blood is said to be one of the strongest bloodlines on earth due to being one of the descendants of Luca, the leader of the Seven Sinful Demons. Even if they are limited, they're still incredibly strong.

"Had enough?" Karin's brother asks.

In spite of not being able to hit his adversary, the Old Blood doesn't look fazed. "You haven't even seen the extent of my powers yet." The temperature begins to drop and ice suddenly surrounds the Kurosaki siblings. "Looks like this is my win."

"Ichi-nii, I don't have any strength left," his sister says weakly. "Just get out of here while you still can."

"No can do, kiddo. Just hang in there." He knows that if he doesn't make a move soon, both he and his sister are done for. He only has one chance left and he has to time this right. He breathes deeply and concentrates on his target, reciting a 'please make it' mantra as he readies his daggers.

The white-haired boy sees through his attack and dodges his blades with ease once again. Nevertheless, he fails to notice a bracelet-like chain heading his way until it's already too late. It wraps around his arm and glows a fierce red. The temperature suddenly reverts back to normal and the ice begins to melt.

"What have you done?" hisses the Old Blood.

"It's a power limiter and is especially made for Old Bloods like you. No matter what you do, it can't be removed unless one of us chooses to remove it. Now prepare to die."

The Old Blood scowls and jumps away. "Do you think it's wise to go after me when your sister is badly hurt?"

He takes a quick glance at his sister and notices that in addition to how pale she is, she's also breathing very heavily. "You win this round, Old Blood, but I'll be back." He bends down, grabs his sister, and walks towards the Bloody Rose Headquarters while the Old Blood heads in the other direction. "C'mon, Karin. Let's get you home."

"But Ichi-nii, you can't let him get away. He could lead us to mom's—"

"There'll always be other fights, Karin. Besides, you're well-being is more important than those bastards."

"Fine…" she answers begrudgingly.

Several minutes later, they're standing in front of an old rundown shop.

"Hang in there, Karin," he says to her and then opens the door. When he sees no one, he hastily calls for assistance. A group of men instantly appear and take her from his hands.

Hours later, she feels much better but refuses to head home right away. She needs some clarification as to why the Old Blood saved her earlier that night. If he wanted to kill her, why didn't he let those deimos do it? Or better yet, why did he grab her when he could have left her there to die by the hands of her own brother? It just made no sense.

She continuously searches the shop until she finds one of her teachers sipping tea with her brother. Even if they're in deep conversation, Karin doesn't care and thus interrupts them.

"Urahara-sensei," she says to a blond man clad in green, "we need to talk."

"About what, Kurosaki-chan?" he asks innocently. "I hope my men were easier on you this time."

"Don't act dumb with me. I'm sure you sensed that demonic energy. Why the hell was I attacked by an Old Blood?" she yells. "I thought you said they weren't going to do anything to me. That they were the good guys."

"I never said they were on our side, Kurosaki-chan," he corrects. "I said they wouldn't bother us for the time being. I guess Gotei Thirteen finally decided to take action."

"Gotei Thirteen? You mean that council made up of the thirteen Old Blood leaders of Seireitei? Why the hell would they be after me?"

"I'm afraid I can't answer that just yet. I have my suspicions but nothing concrete. For now, just stay away from them."

She knows the man is lying but instead opts for a different approach. Getting information from this guy is definitely easier said than done. Let's face it, she'd be better off getting hit by lightning a thousand times before he'd open his mouth.

"Stay away from them?" she questions. "How can I when that very boy who threatened to kill me saved me three times already?"

"Oh?" This is news to him. Since when have the Gotei Thirteen ever saved their targets? If they really wanted to get rid of someone, they would use any means necessary.

"I can sort of understand why he could have saved me from the first attack. If he really wanted to kill me by his own hands, then it explains a lot. But when Ichigo came to save me, he threw blessed daggers at him. If that Old Blood wanted me dead, then he could have just jumped out of the way and let the daggers hit me. But instead, he grabbed me and held on tight until we reached the ground. Then, when Ichigo was going to go after him he made a remark of my health. Yes, it saved him as well, but I'm sure he could have survived long enough until I died even if he had to go against my brother with that limiter on. It just doesn't make sense!"

He briefly looks at Karin then at Ichigo before speaking. "Interesting indeed. This boy you speak of always follows the rules. Why he disobeyed them is strange and I will have to look into it. For the time being, Kurosaki-chan, I implore you to lay low for while. Now that they've found you, you'll be in even more danger."

"I understand," she replies and leaves the shop. "I understand that if you need something done right, you have to do it yourself."

Even though she knows she's being pursued, Karin refuses to stay ignorant until they give her the go. She has better things to do and one of them includes finding the truth herself. And if the hunters aren't willing to help her out, then she would have to seek that Old Blood's help. His freedom for information. Granted, it could get her killed, but Karin knows better. If there's anything a vampire would trade anything for, it would be for power. She knows that she would have him in the palm of her hands.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I know it's taken me a while to update, but school's back. So it'll take even longer to update the rest. Sorry guys!

Thanks for the favs, alerts and reviews! The more who like this story, the more likely I am to update it before my other stories. Enjoy!

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**Unwanted Answers**

It's strange. Karin has already gone through her thirteenth victim since she started her search for the white-haired Old Blood, and she has yet to come face to face with a deimos. It's not that she's disappointed or anything –she's actually glad that she doesn't have to fight such horrendous creatures– she just finds it odd because whenever she kills a Fake Blood, a pack of deimos would be there in a heartbeat, ready to kill whomever it was that killed their master. She wonders if it's a sign of bad omen.

She quickly dismisses the thought as another Fake Blood comes her way. It's another female and by the looks of it, another slut. Where does the guy find these people? Does he just travel the streets and pick whoever comes in view, offering them power? Or does he hook up with them, placing microchips into them when they least expect it? C'mon! Vampires are supposed to be skilful fighters, not people you see living off the streets.

Fed up with it all, Karin decides to call it quits for the night after killing her fourteenth victim. She's sick and tired of fighting these pointless battles and if the white-haired Old Blood doesn't show up soon, she might just kill him instead of asking him for information.

On her way back home, the girl notices a shadow tailing her. Suspecting it to be another Fake Blood, she sprints the other way, taking a sharp left turn at the next street. She runs and runs until she can no longer run and stops to catch her breath at a nearby park. She knows it is a bad idea to be out in the open, but at this point she has no other choice. She readies her daggers, materializing them into the palm of her hands, and silently waits for the shadow to attack.

When nothing happens, Karin closes her eyes and focuses solely on her present surroundings. If the shadow doesn't want to show itself, then she can simply find it on her own by concentrating on its demonic aura. If she's lucky enough, she can kill it in one shot. If not, she can at least scare it into coming out of its hiding place.

It only takes her a few minutes before she pinpoints its location. The shadow is behind several trees south-west of her current position. But there's something oddly familiar about it. Crisp, cold, and cool. It had to be _his_ demonic aura. Wanting to make sure, Karin throws her daggers and is immediately greeted by pure white hair.

"Nice of you to _finally_ grace me with your presence," she states sarcastically.

He rolls his eyes to her sarcastic remark and unsheathes his sword to greet her neck. The cold metal lifts her head, causing her grey eyes to bear into his. "I wonder what your brother would say if I killed you here and now."

"You wouldn't dare kill me."

She shows no fear when speaking to him, not even a little tremble. Her voice is relaxed, calm, almost inviting. Is it a trick? Something a black widow would do to its prey before consuming it? He doesn't know for certain and thus takes caution.

"And why wouldn't I?"

"Because between you and me, I'm the only one who can help you get your powers back…unless you like having that limiter on as a permanent friendship bracelet."

The Old Blood hisses but says nothing because she's the key to freeing his powers; and unless he does whatever she says, he'll be trapped in a body with little to no strength at all. Forever. And that's something he can't live down. It's bad enough as it already is, being put down by the other council members due to being the youngest Old Blood to have ever been in the Gotei Thirteen. but if they were to find out about his current predicament it would be social suicide.

Taking this as a sign of victory, Karin smirks triumphantly. "That's what I thought."

"And what do you get in return? Surely you didn't just come here to meet me."

She scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself, Old Blood. I just need some answers."

"Answers?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah. The hunters refuse to give me any. So I figured someone as knowledgeable as you might know a thing or two. You have lived for over three hundred years after all, perhaps even more."

So she wants information. It's something he can easily give…if he wants to. It's not like she can tell if he tells her the truth or not. "If they refuse to give you answers, maybe they have their reasons."

"Don't give me that shit! The hunters treat me like a child when I'm sixteen years old. Sixteen years old, damn it! In spite of how young I look, I'm fully capable of understanding many things beyond what any other sixteen year old cannot. Surely you must know how it's like to be treated in such a degrading way?"

And he does know how she feels. It took him one hundred years before they finally allowed him to travel to Hueco Mundo alone and he was three hundred and sixty-seven years old. Maybe he can cut her some slack.

"You are an interesting creature," he says and sheaths his sword. "Although weak, you do not shy away from danger but rather embrace it as if it were a child. Maybe cooperating with you won't be too bad."

She blinks momentarily, surprised to hear him say that, and then grins, taking out her hand. "Name's Kurosaki Karin. What's yours?"

"You want my name?" he asks incredulously, glaring at the hand in front of him. How can she be so calm and friendly in a situation like this? He's supposed to her killer! "You're joking, right?"

"Unless you don't mind me calling you 'snowball' for the remainder of my life."

Snowball? His eye twitches and the Old Blood growls. "Hitsugaya Tōshirō," he answers and begrudgingly shakes her hand.

"Good."

He looks at the raven-haired teen oddly and sighs when she doesn't say a thing. "Are you going to ask me questions or what?" he asks impatiently, wondering if this is going to be a long Q&A session.

She sweatdrops and laughs nervously. "Oh right. The questions." All traces of buffoonery disappear seconds later and the girl looks at him seriously. "How does the Gotei Thirteen benefit by killing me? And why are the Fake Bloods trying so hard to capture me? It just doesn't make sense!"

"You don't even know that much?"

She shakes her head. "Didn't I already tell you that they refuse to tell me anything?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Tōshirō whispers, "What are you thinking, Urahara Kisuke?" and leans on a nearby guardrail. When she doesn't follow, he motions her to sit beside him because he knows that no matter how mature she may seem, she'll need to lean on something when he gives her the answers she seeks. "Kurosaki, do you at least know about Luca and your bloodline?"

She nods. "I'm a descendant of Luca, the Demon Lord's right hand man and the leader of the Seven Sinful Demons, the Demon Lord's private Old Blood generals. Because of that, I'm much stronger than the average half-breed and can match up to most Black Bloods under one hundred and fifty years old."

"What about the history behind Reficul's generals?"

Another nod. "Reficul created his generals by handpicking seven humans and then transforming them into vampires, using his demonic powers to instil their strongest sin as their power. They blindly obeyed him, leaving destruction in their wake, until Luca realized that what they were doing was wrong. Mercilessly killing humans. Destroying lands. Burning homes. It was all pointless. And so to stop their creator from destroying their world, Luca tricked the Demon Lord and sealed him for all eternity, sacrificing his own life to make the seal. It's said that only offering Luca's body and soul will undo the seal."

"At least she know that much," he mumbles.

Hearing him perfectly, she glares at him. "Okay, so I know some history. What does this have to do with me being the target? It's not like I'm Luca or anything. I'm just his descendant."

"You're wrong about that. You are Luca…or to be more precise, his embodiment. If the Fake Bloods get their hands on you, this world is finished. That's why I was sent here. The Gotei Thirteen knew you were a threat and so they sent me to eliminate you before it was too late."

"That's impossible!" she yells, getting up. "Sure he's my ancestor and I guess I sort of look like him but that doesn't mean I'm his incarnation. I'm my own person and no one else. I don't even possess a shred of his powers. Y-you're lying!"

That's just perfect. He tells her the truth and the girl thinks he's lying. Maybe he should have done her a favour and lied instead.

"Haven't you wondered why I felt so familiar and yet different at the same time? Why you don't feel as uneasy around me as you do with those Fake Bloods?"

"T-that's just because—"

"I'm a descendant of Bellum, one of the generals under Luca's command. It's said that my ancestor was his right hand man. So you do the math."

It explains a lot now. Why he felt so familiar? Why he probably saved her? Heck, it also explained why Urahara's men treated her like thrash. Why they were afraid of her? And why they liked to challenge her to a duel to the death? They tried to kill her.

"I answered your questions. Now release this seal," he demands, raising his arm in front of her, but she ignores him and takes off.

It's too much for her to handle; too much for her to process. She's not Luca-reincarnated, sacrificing her will not break the seal placed on the Demon Lord and killing her will not bring peace to the world. It's just wishful thinking.

**If they refuse to give you answers, maybe they have their reasons.**

The Old Blood's words echo in her mind and Karin realizes he's right. The reason why Urahara didn't say anything was because he knew she wasn't ready to hear it. But stupid her, she just had to know the truth. She just had to.

Karin quickly shakes the thought away and tries to concentrate on something else. But no matter what she thinks about, it always comes back to that one thing: She is Luca's embodiment.

"I am not his incarnation!" she shouts in frustration. "I am not—"

A hand suddenly grabs her by the wrist and throws her against the wall. Her body makes an indent and blood spews out of her mouth.

"For Luca's embodiment to have run right into me," says a husky male voice. "This must be my lucky day."

Luca's embodiment. Again with those words. She can't take it anymore and finally snaps. Even if she can't run away from the truth, she can still kill whoever it is that is trying to make her remember those awful words.

"You may have caught me off guard once, but don't get cocky." Her words are as deadly as venom. "I'm in a bad mood right now, and you just made it worst."

She quickly materializes her knives and throws it at her opponent. The man swiftly moves out of the way and before she has the chance to materialize some more, the man pins her to the wall with one hand on her arm and the other on her neck.

"Did you really think you had a chance against an Old Blood like me?" The man smiles sadistically and digs his nails into her skin. "Although I need you to be alive, you'll need to be half-dead first."

Karin struggles to free herself but to no avail. The Old Blood before her is too powerful and the pain is too great. If she's to survive this, she would need a miracle.

As if right on cue, a long sword is swung, separating the man and the girl, and Karin falls to the ground, clutching her throat while she coughs out more blood.

"Nice of you to join us, Hitsugaya," says the man.

Tōshirō narrows his gaze and growls. "Stay away from her lest you want to get hurt."

The man laughs. "Do you really think you're a match against me when you're wearing that atrocious thing? This'll be child's play." Before either of them can say a thing, the man is already behind the boy. "Die."

In a matter of seconds, Tōshirō finds himself on the ground with a large gash to his chest and several puncture wounds to his back. He clutches the chest wound and attempts to get back up but falls as soon as he moves.

More afraid for his life than hers, Karin materializes some daggers and prepares to throw them at him when she suddenly hears, "You're no match for him… Just run…"

"I'm not going to abandon you."

She has a plan and although it has plenty of flaws, she's willing to try anything at the moment. Mentally preparing herself, she starts to randomly throw various numbers of daggers at the man in front of her. The man manages to block all of them except for one, and without hesitation, she snaps her fingers and watches as the dagger vanishes into the man's flesh and then explodes. He clutches his shoulder and is surprised by her strength. With only one dagger, she blew his arm off.

"You amuse me, half-breed. To think that someone as weak as you managed to pierce through my defences like that." He laughs and disappears from their sight. "I'll come back to take you later."

The moment he leaves, Karin lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and turns her attention to the Old Blood on the ground. Materializing another dagger, she cuts her finger and lets a drop fall on the jewel of the bracelet. It glows a deep purple before crumbling into dust.

"What are you…doing?" he asks, breathing as hard as ever.

"I'm keeping my part of the deal, of course. But having your powers back is worthless if you're going to die. Here." She lifts her sleeve to show him her wrist. It's pale, just like the rest of her skin. "You'll need to drink some blood if you're to live another day."

He turns his head away, refusing to drink. "I'd rather die than drink from another."

Did she just hear that right? He, a bloodsucking vampire, refuses to drink blood? Has the world gone mad?

"Don't be an idiot! Just drink the damn blood!"

He looks at the wrist with disgust like a child being forced to eat his vegetables and stubbornly looks away. "I said…I don't want to! Now get…out of my sight!"

"You're so infuriating! If you're not going to drink it, then I'll make you."

Frustrated, Karin cuts her wrist and let's a few drops of blood drop into his mouth. It's hard for him to resist the temptation but before long, the taste overpowers his control and the boy snaps. With eyes red as blood, the Old Blood hungrily attacks the cut, sucking like there's no tomorrow.

Karin moans in pain as she feels her strength fade away but is content when she sees the wounds on his chest heal. "Okay, Tōshirō. You can stop now."

Her words are nothing more but a fading sound. All he can concentrate on is sucking her delectable blood.

"I said stop it!" she yells and attempts to pull her wrist away but to no avail. The Old Blood is just too strong and her strength is fading fast. "Tōshirō, stop it! Y-you're killing me…" Her vision blurs as he continues to drink and her strength fails her even more. She can feel her veins dry up as she drifts further into darkness. "Please…before…it's…too…"

The Old Blood has never tasted such sweet and chilled blood before. He wants to stop, but he can't fight the temptation. All he hears is the blood begging him to clean her dry.

"Hitsugaya-kun! Get a hold of yourself!" a woman scolds and whacks him hard against the head. He finally snaps out of it and looks at the girl's body. She is deathly pale and if he doesn't do a thing soon she will surely die.

"What the hell?"

"Idiot! What did you do?"

Turning to the sound of the voice, the white-haired Old Blood sees a tanned woman with long purple hair dressed in a black sleeveless jumpsuit. "Shihōin? What are you—"

"Forget about why I'm here," she interrupts. "You're coming with me and be careful with Karin-chan."

"As if I'd—"

"I hate it when you people do it the hard way."

Even with his newly awakened strength, he's no match for the Flash Goddess herself and is thus knocked out cold before he can move an inch. She throws the boy over her shoulder and grabs Karin bridal-style before heading over to the Bloody Rose Headquarters.

When Tōshirō wakes up a few hours later, he finds himself inside an old rundown shop, chained by power limiters, and Karin's body lying behind him. He doesn't know why, but a sigh of relief leaves his lungs when he sees that her skin has some of its colour back.

"How can you be so stupid?" Yoruichi yells as she slams her fists on the table in front of her. "Do you realize what you just did? Not only did you tell her what was going on, but you drank her blood!"

Turning to the sound of her voice a second time that night, Tōshirō sees Shihōin Yoruichi and Urahara Kisuke sitting before him. "It's not like I had any choice in the matter," he says, defending himself. "She's the one that forced me to drink her blood. Besides, it's not like she died or anything. You managed to stop me in time. So no harm done."

"No. Harm. Done?" she asks, seething every word with more venom than the last.

"Relax, Yoruichi," says Kisuke in a soothing voice.

Yoruichi closes her eyes, takes a few deep breaths, and quietly sits down.

"Listen, Hitsugaya-kun. You've done more damage than you can possibly think of. Although it's true that Karin is Luca's embodiment, she doesn't have an ounce of his powers. So even if she was captured by the Fake Bloods, the seal wouldn't have recognized her as Luca's true embodiment and so Reficul would not have been revived. But because you, a descendant of one of Luca's men, drank from her directly, you loosened the lock that bound those powers."

"Hold on a second. Her powers were bound? How the hell did that happen?" Tōshirō wonders.

"The human blood that coursed through her veins was strong enough to prevent her from attaining any of Luca's powers. But when you drank her blood, you weakened her human-half and gave strength to her vampire-half. Now, Karin will have to go through a painful process of slowly gaining some, if not all, of Luca's powers. And that in itself could mentally kill her, changing her into a mindless bloodsucker with no control over what she does. Then we'd have no other choice but to kill her."

"You know," Yoruichi adds. "For someone who's supposed to be a young prodigy, you're an idiot!"

Upset, the white-haired Old Blood growls. "How the hell was I supposed to know that? No one ever tells me anything."

"Well then, maybe you should have done your job right."

"So you wouldn't have cared if I killed her?" he retorts.

"Of course I would have cared! In fact, I would have stopped you before you even laid a finger on her. But do you realize how much pain you're going to put her through, not to mention that now if she gets captured by Aizen the world _will_ be doomed! What the hell is the Gotei Thirteen thinking? It's only been a few centuries since I left and this is what it has come to?" Irritated, Yoruichi pinches the bridge of her nose. "Idiots!"

Amused by her reactions, Kisuke merely smiles mischievously. "You do know what that means, right?"

She sighs. "So there's no other way, huh?"

He probably knows he will regret this, but asks, "What are you talking about?"

Both Kisuke and Yoruichi momentarily stare at each before turning to him with Chesire Cat-like grins and answer, "You, Hitsugaya Tōshirō, will have to be her protector."

"WHAT?"


End file.
